Over the years, Munthaha and his team have conducted campaigns for raising awareness on climate change, environment, and harm of plastic usage in over fifty schools and colleges throughout the port city
Sidratul Munthaha looks like an ordinary student who appeared in the 2024 HSC exam, but he is anything but ordinary.
Over the last few years, Munthaha has conducted campaigns for raising awareness on climate change, environment, and harms of plastic usage in over fifty schools and colleges throughout Chattogram. He leads a team of school kids who fight for climate change impact mitigation.
It all began when Munthaha was a 14-year-old eighth grader. His school conducted a climate workshop, and he participated in the discussions there.
Inspired by the workshop and feeling the necessity of raising climate change awareness among his peers, Munthaha started getting involved in climate activism when he got promoted to ninth grade.
A student of science department, Munthaha began to learn more about the issue through YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms. When he was in 10th grade, he thought of visiting different schools and colleges to disperse climate change information. Munthaha got admitted to Islamia Degree College Chittagong after passing his SSC exams. He had classes six days a week. One day, he started to speak about climate change in front of his mirror at home.
He was thinking of a way to effectively disperse information, specifically the losses and devastations triggered by climate change across Bangladesh, and the limited funding currently available to this country to tackle this issue.
Then a moment of eureka appeared, Munthaha knew he had the confidence to hold seminars and workshops on climate in various schools and colleges at the field level. However, he had limited free time and budget. So, he initially approached 70-80 students in three schools and one college in his immediate vicinity, and gradually shared his idea on how to raise climate change awareness.
Though many told Munthaha that his campaigning would require a significant budget, and he is just a student, the kid was not discouraged by the insurmountable challenge.
After just two weeks, Munthaha held his first seminar in September 2023 about the impacts of climate change with eighty students from Ayub Bibi City Corporation School and College. Soon after, he addressed the issue with ninety students at Azim Hakim School and College. Later, he raised awareness on climate change mitigation and harms of plastic usage to 163 students about plastic and climate change at Charlakshya Union High School.
He also held a seminar at Karnaphuli Public School and College. Despite being a class XI student himself, Munthaha held a climate change seminar with XI students at that educational institution, which is not an easy feat.
Munthaha soon formed a climate team called Youth People of Bangladesh. Though beginning with only twenty-three members, the team got involved with several environmental organisations in the port city Chattogram.
Munthaha’s team members participated in various climate related issues with the larger organisations, and gradually the team expanded to sixty-seven members. Majority of the members of his organisation are eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth-grade students. Many are also seeking admission to different universities.
Munthaha and his team have been working with different environmental organisations in Chattogram to highlight different climate change issues, and other key issues relevant to the port city through social media platforms.
Speaking to The Climate Watch, Munthaha said, “The most important thing for me is that I have found a climate journalist in Chattogram – Shamsuddin Illius – who has been able to highlight and discuss various complex issues related to climate change.
“With Illius bhai’s guidance and support from YouthNet Global Coordinator Rahman bhai, I have learned many previously unknown facts related to climate change in Bangladesh.”
He continued, “I am currently involved in climate activism in Chattogram with members of my organisation and have plans to engage more intricately with the sector.
“Recently, me and my team, the Youth People of Bangladesh, distributed relief and medicine in several regions recently affected by floods, including in Noakhali, Feni, and Mirsharai.”
